lake eyre yacht club photos

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“Ya gotta be jokin’ – No we’re not!”

“Ya gotta be jokin’ – No we’re not!” proclaims the Lake Eyre Yacht Club , the self-determined Worlds most exclusive Yacht Club , where only people who have actually skippered their own vessel on the lake surface can attain full membership. This becomes an extremely daunting task under the best of conditions. Additionally, conditions only allow it maybe once every couple of years.

The Lake Eyre Basin

Lake Eyre marks the lowest point of elevation in Australia at 15 metres (49 feet) below sea level. The larger Eyre Basin covers nearly one-sixth of the continent. Water entering the basin does not have an outlet to the sea in this endorheic basin. Rather, it flows away from the sea and towards the Australian interior for this very large portion of the continent. The minuscule portion of drainage that doesn’t soak into the soil or evaporate into the harsh desert atmosphere will find its way eventually to Lake Eyre in South Australia.

Lake Eyre often sits nearly empty but generally doesn’t dry completely. Most of the time it features a series large mucky, briny puddles. It sprawls across the playa, the salt-encrusted mudflats stretching in every direction to the horizon. High salinity typifies endorheic basins. The alkali salts eroding from the landscape have nowhere to flow except towards the lowest point of the watershed rather than the sea. The salt deposits of Lake Eyre appear quite visibly as massive white patches in the satellite image, below.

A Rare Treat

But every once in awhile the stars align, the winds shift, the weather changes just enough, maybe a La Niña pattern kicks-in with particular ferocity, the lake begins to awake and it expands exponentially over the nearly flat terrain. Our intrepid sailors get exited for times like these .

Annual monsoons sometimes dump unusually heavy rainfall on the intermittent rivers of the Queensland outback. It cannot be sucked into the ground or yanked back into the sky. The waters may flow through the Channel Country all the way to Lake Eyre. Also, locally heavy rains can contribute to the phenomenon, having less distance to travel and fewer opportunities to evaporate. Lake Eyre may rise 3 to 6 metres as a result of these particularly rainy periods. While that may not sound like a lot it provides sufficient coverage to create a vast inland sea.

To the Yachts!

The Yacht Club swings into action during these special times. Mariners head straight towards the waters from their clubhouse in Marree. Indeed, the Lake Eyre Yacht Club maintains a facility a hundred kilometres or so from its namesake. They wait patiently in the blazing heat and choking dust for those rare moments. Then they can demonstrate their nautical skills on open waters. I’m not sure whether I would call these sailors dedicated or deluded, perhaps a touch of both, but I applaud their enthusiasm.

Sailing on Lake Eyre presents more difficulty than one would imagine. The sailing itself isn’t the trouble assuming one pays attention to the weather. It’s the extreme amount of effort required to launch a boat and later return to dry land that presents an issue.

Considerations

First, consider the terrain. It’s brutally rugged, lightly traversed and totally unforgiving. People can die when their vehicles break or bog down if they don’t have sufficient provisions for a protracted stay. Next, there are only three spots where boats can actually launch and they’re not like the landings on a typical lake. Mariners need to pull their craft a kilometre or more to water’s edge unless they want to get stuck up to their axles in muck.

Finally prevailing winds change the nature and shape of the lake significantly because of its extreme shallowness. It is highly susceptible to seiches or “wind tides,” a condition not unlike hurricane storm surges, that push great volumes of water from one part of the basin to another. A sudden wind shift can leave a boater quickly stranded on the wrong side of a newly emptied lake bed, now separated from the launch by several kilometres.

The “yachts” must be adapted to the unique topographical characteristics of the lake. Vessels need to have a shallow draft to avoid grounding in the flat waters and they need to be light enough to be pulled long distances across the mud as necessary. Fiberglass canoes with homemade outriggers and masts are a common choice.

The surface of Lake Eyre remains below sea level even during the rainiest of times. Yacht Club members beg to differ up to a point. As they say, “while this is obviously quite correct, as mariners, the LEYC members like to sail on the sea rather than below it and so refer to depth as such – the amount of water above the lowest point in each of the basins.”

Nothing will stop these lake bed yachtsmen.

A Completely Different Subject

I saw an article in Smithsonian today that might interest some of you: Micronations of the World . “Explore these mock sovereign states fueled by local disputes, utopian idealism and the imaginations of a few eccentric individuals”

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Lake Eyre Yacht Club in the Australian outback, Maree, South Australia

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Marree. The Lake Eyre Yacht Club. It only operates perhaphs every ten years or so when Lake Eyre fills with water.

Marree/herrgott springs. these semi desert aboriginal lands were first sighted by white men in 1840 when edward john eyre and his exploration party reached lake eyre. for some time people thought lake torrens and lake eyre was one big inland sea but explorations by surveyor general george goyder in 1860 proved that the lakes were separate. at that time governor macdonnell named the lake after eyre (now kati thanda). it is about 90 kms from marree. this area of sa is underpinned by deep artesian waters contained under great pressure and in some places they bubble to the surface forming springs. salts and other minerals from the saline waters eventually create calcium walls around the springs as the water evaporates hence the term mound springs. when sir charles todd was heading the construction of the overland telegraph in 1870- 1872 from port augusta to darwin a camp was located at herrgott springs which was the first european name for the site of marree. it was named after explorer john mcdougall stuart‘s botanist joseph herrgott who discovered a mound spring in 1859. there are over 5,000 mound springs in sa and they were vital to the construction of the overland telegraph.   the town emerged when the great northern railway reached herrgott springs in 1884. before the survey a hotel and a general store opened in 1882.from the beginning the locals and towns people called the place marree but the government railway station was herrgott springs. the police station and post office opened in 1883 and the school in 1884. during world war one this german name was changed to marree in line with previous local usage. by 1885 the town had the two storey great northern hotel, two general stores, two butchers, three saddlers and an iron wesleyan methodist church and it had 600 residents. this church was used as the government school which was only built in 1908. the post office began in a tent until a building was erected in 1886 and it doubled as a repeater station for the overland telegraph. the marree hospital opened in 1912. the railway was the focus of the early town and in 1891 there was a government survey to see if a railway line from marree up the birdsville was viable. another survey was undertaken in 1916 but nothing eventuated. supples went up and down to birdsville by camel trains   many afghan cameleers were based at the springs as this was the starting point for camel trains to birdsville, oodnadatta and elsewhere. around 1900 about 1,500 camels were based in marree with 800 owned by just one afghan. although motor transport developed in the 1920s the birdsville track cameleers were in marree until 1949. recently a replica muslim mosque has been erected in the town to commemorate the role the afghans played in servicing the birdsville track. the first mosque open by 1884 and was replaced twice before it closed. its prayer rugs were sent to the gilbert st. mosque in adelaide. afghan names in marree included dervish, moosha, khan, balook, wahub, dadih, goolamdeen etc. tom kruse ran a truck mail service to birdsville from 1936 to 1963 although the service continued until 1975 when an air service took over. 300 or so date palms were planted in marree as a trial in 1884 but they did not thrive after about 30 years. the new standard gauge railway to marree opened in 1957 employing about 85 men as the ghan to alice springs changed gauge here from standard to the narrow 3’6” gauge. this railway closed in 1980 and the town has declined but tourism keeps it alive. marree has a population of about 100 of which 60 % are men so it is a great place for women to find a partner marree aboriginal school has two primary and one secondary class and six part time teachers. the town also has a royal flying doctor service office, old commonwealth railway deserted train engines, and one of the trucks used by tom kruse from 1936.  .

Lake Eyre Yacht Club

True!  Marree has a yacht club.  And it’s serious business with an annual regatta and a wealth of information about the Lake – especially when it comes to bird life and water.

Bob Backway is the Commodore. Never one to shy from controversy involving the contentious issue of ‘sailing on Lake Eyre’ which has given Bob a label of ‘infamousy’ yet he has to be credited for putting his beloved Yacht Club on the map, so to speak. If he’s not getting the headlines in the media, he’s building a reputation as a source of information about Lake Eyre. Certainly worth getting involved – lot’s of fun.  So visit the Lake Eyre Yacht Club website  www.lakeeyreyc.com    Join the Club and come sailing! 

• When:  3-8 April 2016
• Where:  Cowarie Station
• Contact:   Bob or Doreen Backway at the Marree Yacht Club

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Lake Eyre Yacht Club

• Thread starter Mid
• Start date May 21, 2018

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• May 21, 2018

• Thread starter

The flood waters are approaching  B)  

Super Anarchist

I thought Lake Eyre was Ozzies version of Bonneville. You mean to say it's a real lake, not a salt flat?  

• May 22, 2018

It is a salt flat four and a half years out of five. A lot of dry inland Australia drains towards the middle, so when you eventually get a big rain event, vast areas turn into a sea, especially around Lake Eyre..........  

SloopJonB said: I thought Lake Eyre was Ozzies version of Bonneville. You mean to say it's a real lake, not a salt flat? Click to expand...

Sidecar said: It is a salt flat four and a half years out of five. A lot of dry inland Australia drains towards the middle, so when you eventually get a big rain event, vast areas turn into a sea, especially around Lake Eyre.......... Click to expand...

great stuff pupit , any pics to share with the class ?  

pulpit said: The lake is so big when it’s full it changes the whole area and it comes alive for years. The main lake only ever fills every 30-40 years on average and then it takes 3-4 years to dry out......... Click to expand...

I remember some talk of doing that to a huge depression in the Sahara - I'd guess it was Libya or maybe Egypt. Couldn't see that it would hurt to try it - the land is dead anyway.  

Mid said: great stuff pupit , any pics to share with the class ? Click to expand...

Sidecar said: I have an old friend in South Aust who keeps threatening to do the Regatta with me... And partake of the feral grill at the Parachilna pub on the way up.... Click to expand...

pulpit said: ......Don’t just talk about doing it, just go........ Click to expand...

Sidecar said: As it happens, I will be in South Ozz in a couple of weeks time seeing family and friends, I will let you know..... will play havoc with the boat maintenance/upgrade programme though.... Click to expand...

madboutcats

• May 23, 2018

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Sailing Anarchy Podcast with Scot Tempesta

Lake Eyre Yacht Club.

Lake Eyre Yacht Club planning first regatta in four years as rain falls

A yacht club in the desert in one of the most remote locations on earth is planning its first regatta in four years – but only if there’s enough water.

The Lake Eyre Yacht Club in South Australia sits on the shores of the continent’s largest lake and the thirteenth biggest inland body of water in the world.

It is also dry most of the time and only completely fills about four times each century – the last time being 1974.

But seasonal rains are beginning to arrive in Lake Eyre after flowing to the salt lake through a network of rivers that drain into a basin covering a sixth of Australia – about the size of Spain.

Lake Eyre Yacht Club Commodore Bob Backway said boats had not been on the main lake since 2011 but the recent rains had members excited.

“This rain has primed all the Queensland rivers, which is great. If we have what is considered another rain event in the first half of February then it would be fantastic,” Backway said.

“We’ll probably get boats out on the water in March because this time of year it’s just too hot.

“But we’re hoping that this follow-up rain will bring a proper flood down from Queensland.”

“We’re very excited about it. Everybody’s waking up in the membership and thinking about what to do this year but we’re all praying for follow up rain … if we get the rain it will be our best season since 2011.”

The club, located about 700km north of the South Australian capital city Adelaide, has 220 members from all over Australia and even some from the United States, United Kingdom and Germany.

It stores 10 boats in sheds at the club but the majority of members bring their yachts on trailers by road.

The closest community to Lake Eyre, William Creek , is 60km away and has a permanent population of six.

Backway said the club was planning a regatta in April on a lake in the area but probably not Lake Eyre itself. He said smaller lakes had more suitable camping grounds and were safer.

The last regatta hosted by the club was in 2012, on Lake Killamperpunna about 120km east of Lake Eyre. It attracted 42 boats and was held over six days across two divisions and included multiple classes.

“We typically have about 35 yachts and 120 people. We don’t like it to get much larger than that because it becomes unmanageable in such a remote area,” he said.

Backway said some members also cruised their yachts through the Simpson Desert on the Warburton River and Kallakoopah Creek – part of the network that feeds Lake Eyre – when there was enough water.

“I’m hoping to have the opportunity to get at least one river adventure in this year. The best river adventure we’ve had so far has been 750km over 23 days.

“On the rivers the scenery changes daily, there’s different types of desert you travel through, there’s different levels of vegetation – as you get closer to the lake it’s more salt affected.”

“Some places you’re sailing through Coolabah swamps, which is quite exciting, so it’s a real adventure.”

– Andrew Spence

About the club:

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